The source of your expertise

[Dekker]

I am routinely impressed by the general level of knowledge from posters here, and granted being a Civ forum it was bound to attract a certain subset with particular interests more towards things like History and Politics, but it still amazes me the level of detail and insight you guys have on particular topics or subjects.

Whether recalling the various nuances and dates of the Napoleonic wars or the pecularities of the electoral system, the history of socialism, or debating the merits of Capitalism, even the more contentious topics involving Racism, Religion, there usually is some basis of knowledge the poster is drawing upon that rises above the standard reddit thread or comment section.

I am curious to know what you guys feel has been the greatest source of your personal knowledge? Your University education? Any specific texts that were especially eye-opening? Documentaries? Travelling? Life experince? (Some of you seem to have had quite the storied lives!)

It's very inspiring stuff, do share!

 

[Silurian]

CFCOT and too long spent reading the newspaper with a pint.

 

[formerdc81]

I read the propaganda of every side, and I find that extremists often are the most perceptive towards the ills of the world, even when their solutions are crazy. In my view, it is foolish not to read them, simply to know of another way of seeing the world. Even if that way of seeing the world is totally wrong, knowing what caused that kind of thinking to both exist and be a rational explanation in the everyday life of the adherents is fruitful because the deconstruction of that person's mind often produces understanding of objective social and economic forces. I have taken this approach of sociological archeology rather than rely exclusively on the conventional gatekeepers of official truth (the academy, the media, the encyclopedia) because the oppression of the system we live under today called monopoly capitalism likes to bury truth under cliche, partisan misinterpretation, and lies. Radicals of all stripes are the ones most likely to do critical research into history and current events, enough to actually find the nuggets of truth. Communists, anti-human environmentalists, Luddites, anarchists, Nazis, conspiracy theorists, Masons, liberals, conservatives, right-wing libertarians, monarchists, Christians, Confucians, Buddhists, I've read them all. I do not care about political or scientific or social reputation, as long as that ideology attracted a following, I try my best to see the world through their eyes, at least to the point where I can pass among them and convincingly repeat their propaganda with my words. Then I quit, try to process whatever facts they claim to have uncovered, and continue to be me, a non-denominational revolutionary socialist. The only texts I could not read were certain terrorist/Nazi/occultist literature that glorified anti-human acts to the degree of making me physically ill, but even then I understood them intellectually. It helps that I was exposed to both the Chinese and Western philosophical tradition and I'm fluent in both languages, but I'm not special in that regard.

I am fully aware this approach makes me a heretic in most political parties or religions.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'm just old.

Well, seriously, I've had careers that produced a lot of time that could be spent just reading, and stuff accumulated.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

It depends on the topic. If it is science or laws the source is academic since i have two degrees in chemistry and laws (i am weird, i know). If it is about airplanes, sea-related stuff, computers or art, source is years of self-acquired knowledge since these are my hobbies since i was a kid. Everything else comes from google, wikipedia or directly out of my arse.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Myself, I just make stuff up.

 

[MaryKB]

I don't consider myself an authority on anything really, but I have my education and my life experiences.

I have a degree in accounting, and I've worked in banking for almost fourteen years, so I feel I understand many things about finance and especially fraud that someone without my history would know. I have a friend who has never worked or studied any of this who was lecturing me on how banking works, and he completely had no idea what he was talking about, and I found that rather upsetting. I know there are people who know more about it than I do of course, and my scope of my experience is obviously narrow, but I feel I could explain to most people things about how banks work and why things happen, and especially about fraud and security.

I spent years teaching religious education, I taught 5th and 6th grade catechism, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and Confirmation class for 10th grade students. I've taken many classes myself and I feel I strongly understand Catholic perspectives of theology, but I know I'm no Thomas Aquinas or such, but I generally feel I do know what I'm talking about.

I've taken some history classes, my interest was really driven by Civilization lol, but I don't have a degree or anything, but I do understand almost all history as written is subjective.

My life experiences as a woman has given me my perspective of gender issues, and I find it particularly bothersome when a man tries to enlighten me on what my world is like.

Oh and I know pretty much everything there is to know about Star Trek the Next Generation from watching every episode about fifty times

 

[El_Machinae]

I fricken love learning, and it started in my late-twenties. Before then, I focused my intellect on just doing things that I liked. I started buying intelligent books. Subscribing to intelligent podcasts. Listening to university lectures on youtube. For fun.

The first thing that happened was that I actually became interested in transhumanism, the idea of improving humanity through increases in technology. At that point, I decided to participate in the process, and I intentionally began gobbling up neuroscience (and real science) in general with the eventual outcome of becoming a neuroscientist. In the process of assisting in the quest for my own starship, I realized that increasing resources at the bottom was a great way of boosting the entire (net) velocity of the process. As a result, I became more and more interested in the field of economics. I'd had exposure to finance as a young adult, but found it less than gratifying. Along the way, I developed a stronger empathy for those who're currently not on my path, so generalized inequity started also guiding my path. I was less than impressed with economic theory that required that the poor become poorer, so I tended to look for more win/win interventions. I still want my own starship, though.

 

[Birdjaguar]

A long life that has many varied experiences, broad interests, thoughtful friends, smart people here at CFC, and books. CFC OT has some of the brightest people I know who willingly share their experience and knowledge. My 17 years here have not been wasted.

 

[tetley]

Travel.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I have a butterfly mind so I know a little about a lot of subjects.

 

[rah]

Education established the groundwork, but life and failure provided the rest.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

My cats taught me (and continue to teach me) most of what I know about cats. What they didn't tell me, the vets and library did - no internet was around when I got my first cat in October 1977.

 

[Berzerker]

The Enuma Elish and Zecharia Sitchin

 

[Cutlass]

Got kicked out of highschool at 16 and have been picking up pieces here and there since.

 

[sophie]

School, reading, writing, talking to other smart people.

 

[Broken_Erika]

I eat the brains of smart people to gain their knowledge.

 

[JollyRoger]

High end call girls

 

[Lemon Merchant]

School, grad school, etc. 25 years working in mental health in some capacity. I read a lot, but I am still surprisingly ill-informed.

 

[Dachs]

Reading and conversation.

High end call girls

no joke though this was a thing in China in the first half of the seventeenth century